TRP: Gwydion and Mishka (Asenka)
Mink: ''' Silverlight Inn. Day 116, Mishka has arrived back from Calimport. Gwydion is back in Skyport, mulling over the situation with Asenka. Gwydion stared down into glass, watching the candlelight reflect against the dark red of the wine. Images of fire and burnt off faces ran through his mind. Mikhail “Mishka” Haeth had done something he shouldn’t have years ago and that spell still reverberated through time. Asenka should have remained dead, laying within her grave, but now she was walking free to roam the lands. He could pretend the multitude of emotions was due to it being morally wrong, but… His hand tightened on the glass before he finished off the wine. He looked up towards the bar to gesture for someone to come fill his drink, but he caught sight of a pretty blonde. A familiar pretty blonde. He slipped out of his seat and caught up his staff, carrying the glass in the other. He slipped across the bar as he leaned against the edge. “Mikhail Haeth. What a nice surprise.” '''Coyote: That voice was-- familiar. Mishka smiled against his will when he saw who it was. Gwydion. Fair-haired, delicate, well-dressed as usual. He always gave Mishka that weird cold prickle at the back of his neck, the one that meant something was off, something was dangerous. Mishka kinda liked it. Mishka mimicked the same pose back. "Well, naturally. I'm always a nice surprise. Bare minimum, I'm at least always a surprise. Gwydion, darling, sweetheart, what brings you to Skyport?" Mink: ''' Mishka was charming, or he pretended to be. He could needle in under his skin with just a word. Gwydion let the thought slip away for him as he grabbed his refilled glass. "A friend," he answered with a smile. "What brings you here?" Of all places, but, then again, Mishka had never struck him the same way Asenka had. '''Coyote: "Ah, you know me. I'm actually not sure, I just sort've ended up here. Lots of fuckin' stuff." Mishka downed his whiskey, jiggling his leg. He wanted to get home, but this was interesting, and it'd caught his attention. "You been here long? I could show you the sights, take you sailing. Neat place. Lots of ruins. Lots of monsters. Lots of places to fuck things up, y'know." Mink: ''' Gwydion took a sip of his wine. "Like you did with Asenka?" '''Coyote: Mishka tensed, a ripple of cold going through him. Something was off about Gwydion's tone. Mishka recalculated rapidly, wishing he hadn't been drinking. He sent the glass down. "What'd I fuck up with Asenka?" Aside from killing her, which Gwydion already knew about. Everyone knew about it. Mink: ''' "I think we should find a place a little more private to talk." Gwydion took another sip of his wine and straightened. "I have something to show you." '''Coyote: Private. Uh huh. Mishka shifted out of his seat. He'd always thought Gwydion was particularly neat, but he didn't trust the guy one goddamn inch. He thought about asking: Private like where? Damned if he was letting someone take him to a private location they knew about ahead of time, though. What if it was an ambush or a trap? Somewhere private. He needed to pick the place himself, and he needed to let someone else know where he was going first. Hansel, in particular, maybe Ripley. Make sure if something happened, they knew where to look. "Sure. I have a lovely gazebo at my estate, and my darling servant Samantha makes the most delightful pastries. Or did you have somewhere else in mind?" Mink: ''' Gwydion thought over the idea of going to the estate, or of going somewhere else, but he doubted Mishka would be willing to go many places with him that weren't on his own terms. And, well, what he had to say could be said anywhere. He finished his drink. "Your estate sounds lovely. Lead the way." '''Coyote: to Mishka's estate They exchanged pleasant bullshit on the walk. Gwydion said nothing else about Asenka, which set Mishka on edge. He had no clue what that this was about, nothing to go off of, and he didn't like that. He paused in the house to tell Joan, "Joan, this is my dear friend Gwydion." Dear friend was code. Mishka has been attempted to teach her subterfuge. "We'll be out in the gazebo. Holler if you need me, woman." Which meant I'll holler if I need you. "Message received, boss," Joan said without looking up from her book. Mishka snorted, resting his hand on her arm briefly before heading outside. He led Gwydion outside to the gazebo. Samantha brought out cinnamon rolls and sweetened coffee. Mishka pulled a roll apart ildly. Mink: ''' Gwydion looked over the furnishings and interior of the estate, appraising it. Mishka was doing very well for himself, even in a place like Skyport. He followed the other elf out to the gazebo where he sank down into a chair. He propped his staff against his chair, hooking the end over an ankle much like he always did. He liked to have it handy and it was always good to have weapons handy when dealing with the Haeth family. He took a sip from the coffee given to him, watching Mishka for a few silent moments. He set the cup down and reached into his satchel to pull a folded up parchment that he slid across the table to the other elf. He had a second one, but it was folded safely away and out of reach if Mishka decided he wanted to be rough. '''Coyote: It was-- a picture of Asenka. An... old picture of Asenka. Mishka set it down, still feeling cold. "Go on," he said, though Gwydion hadn't spoken a word. Mink: ''' With that, Gwydion reached back in and this time he pulled out a small jar filled with ash. He set it on the table. '''Coyote: "Gwydion," Mishka said. "I normally find your odd little mannerisms delightful, but this is a bit've a rough topic for me, alright? Creepy portrait, creepy ashes, sure, all standard Gwydion. Cut to fucking the point." Mink: ''' "I couldn't care less if this is a rough topic for you, Mishka." Gwydion took a sip of his coffee. "Because you dabbled in something you shouldn't have and I ran into that something not very long ago." '''Coyote: Mishka kicked up his feet on the chair next to him. There was a cold knot in his stomach. Asenka. Something he shouldn't have. Ashes. This was adding up in a way that Mishka did not like. You really do like the melodramatic drawing-it-out bullshit, Mishka thought spitefully, but that would not help here. "Fine. What was it?" Mink: ''' "Your sister." Gwydion tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. "She had some very interesting things to show me. One thing was particularly interesting." His fingers stopped tapping. "Where did you even find a copy of a True Resurrection Spell?" '''Coyote: "Gwydion, my sister is dead," Mishka said flatly. "She is a corpse in the ground. Her soul resides with Correllon, long may he guide us. Yes, I did in fact try to raise her with a resurrection spell, and it failed, and to my knowledge, it did not do jack shit. I have no clue how, precisely, she could have showed you anything. What did you do?" Had Gwydion... spoken to her spirit, somehow? Asenka had been-- kind. Mishka assumed she must be resting peacefully in the afterlife. Mink: ''' The images could have been a ruse, could have easily been a lie, but the cold hand touching his shoulder had not been. "Me? Nothing. I was helping a few friends when we ran into her." Gwydion leaned back in his chair. "That resurrection spell you fucked up is the reason for that. She was more than happy to tell me all about it and how her poor, poor soul was stuck in limbo." That was, perhaps, the reason he was so frustrated over this. Or maybe it was because fucking Mishka, a sorcerer with no innate ability for necromancy, had gotten his hands on a copy of a spell he had only heard of. '''Coyote: It felt like someone had sunk an ice spike into his heart. He stared at Gwydion, dumbstruck, repeating the words to himself to make sure he'd understood their meaning. Spell you fucked up. Stuck in limbo. Tell me all about it. Mishka shoved himself to his feet and grabbed Gwydion by the collar. "If this is some fucking joke--" Mink: ''' Gwydion arched an eyebrow when Mishka grabbed his collar and he reached up to pry his fingers off. "I assure you this is no joke, Mishka," he answered, tone cool and level. "Your sister was more than pissed off and so am I. You played with a spell you had no ability to comprehend and trapped someone for near two decades." '''Coyote: Asenka. Trapped somewhere by herself. For-- for almost... seventeen years, now. As soon as he'd killed her, he'd immediately gone looking for that spell, found it, and come back. Stole her body from its tomb and took it to an old house and worked with it there. Trapped. All this time. The first thing he felt was cold, calculating rage-- directed towards himself, for once. The grief was still keen as the day she died. Mishka took a step back, suddenly remembering himself. This wasn't the time for emotional bullshit. He needed to go rescue her. "Where is she? Show me." Mink: ''' "What makes you think you deserve to know where she is after what you did?" '''Coyote: Mishka said, without hesitation: "Gwydion, if your point is that I am a scumbag, a fuckup, or a disaster, I am already fucking aware. You can make whatever snide remarks you fucking want. All the sharp little comments. You think you can cut me? That's cute. I have had to live with myself every fucking day of my life." Mishka knew exactly what kind of monster he was. He'd catalogued it in precise detail. He knew every time he'd fucked up, every time he'd hurt someone he adored. He had to live with the way he'd destroyed Hansel and live with the way he'd wrecked Asenka. He was done feeling sorry for himself. Fucking done with it. He turned to head back to the house. "This isn't about deserving to see her. I need to help her. Help me or don't. I don't give a fuck." Mink: ''' How Mishka felt, Gwydion didn't give a damn, but he soothed the anger brimming. This wasn't the time and, much like that Finch, he knew better than when to keep antagonizing. "My friends and I already helped her," he said as he took his staff in his hand and stood up, fixing his robes. He grabbed up the ash and the portrait to place them away safely in his satchel once more. "She is, possibly, on her way here." '''Coyote: Good. Then Mishka needed to find her and make sure she was okay. "Good," Mishka said. "Can you show me where you found her? Bare minimum." Mink: ''' Helping Mishka was one of the last things he wanted to do, but he hadn't had time to roam that house, to see if there was more to the story. "One one condition." '''Coyote: "Go on." Mink: ''' He had said one when he should have said two. Now he had to choose. Telling Mishka to fuck off with necromancy or...or... "You tell me what book you found the spell in." '''Coyote: Mishka stopped dead. He thought about lying. He could say: Sure thing. Let's just go there, first, and I'll give it to you afterwards. But he was trying to get better at this not-lying thing. "I can't," Mishka said honestly. "Someone else has it. I didn't keep it. It was of no use to me. I can point you in her direction, if you like. You'd probably get along." Mink: ''' Oh. That was a surprising answer from Mishka. "You can tell me who she is on our way there." He turned his staff in his hands before he made himself stop. It was a bad habit. "When would you like to leave?" '''Coyote: "Now. Now is good. But I'm taking people with me. My hus-- my partner, for one, and likely my... other partner. Fair?" Mink: ''' "Fair." He could deal with two more people if he had even a chance of getting a hold of that book. '''Coyote: Hansel was busy taking care of Roddy. Instead, Mishka paused briefly to explain what had happened, then went to Joan instead. It was probably better like this, anyway. One person with him. Easy to keep track of. Joan was solid, too, and smart, and she knew how he worked. If something happened, he could grab her and teleport out of there as soon as he had to. They rented horses from a stable, then rode-- hard-- towards the house. Towards where Gwydion pointed them. Mink: ''' Gwydion would have preferred to take his time, but Mishka and Joan - he thought was that how she had been introduced - were in a rush and he was willing to meet their pace. As they neared the iron gates, he pulled his horse up and dismounted in a fluid motion. He looked over the familiar windows, the familiar exterior, and he felt a prickle of anticipation. He wanted to get inside, more than he could explain. "Here we are." He led the way to the gate and shoved it open, the lock still undone from when Azriel had picked it up -- that tiefling had been more than interesting that day. "Her body was down in the basement." '''Coyote: Yeah. This was the house where he'd taken her body. He'd lived here for few months while he tried to find the resurrection spell, and then while he tried to figure out how to cast it. He began going through it. Checking each room. The place had been licked clean-- nothing valuable left. "Her body was in the basement?" he said finally. "You... burnt, I assume?" Gwydion had showed him a jar of ashes. Mink: ''' "We did." Gwydion followed Mishka throughout the home, looking over the items that hung on the walls and decorated the rooms. It was a finely built home though the pictures could do with a bit of a touch up. He drew his thoughts back to the matter at hand and smiled. "I have the ashes, but she was more than capable of walking out of here without them." Or the body that had been downstairs. That was interesting. Maybe that book would be more than willing to tell him how that had happened. '''Coyote: Mishka nodded shortly. Joan stuck close to him, checking each room as they left it. Mink: ''' Gwydion kept one step behind Joan and Mishka. Joan made him feel on edge and Mishka...well, that man was always someone to be wary around. "Now I think we had a deal, Mishka," he said as they strode down the hall. "Who has the book?" '''Coyote: Mishka rolled the answer around, then decided: Fuck it. Tricksy could defend herself from Gwydion. Heck, they might get along. "Tricksy Smirnova," Mishka said shortly. "The Pirate Banshee Queen of the Northern Seas." Mink: ''' Shit. Gwydion stored the name for future use, but there would be the little issue of finding out where she was. There were always options, and always people who could help. "Thank you." He smiled over at Mishka and hitched up his staff. "If you don't mind, I will leave you two to your searching." Now he had things to do, and a person to find. '''Coyote: "Yeah. Yeah. You should.... thank you. For telling me what happened." Mishka's eyes were unfocused. 'Mink: ' "Anytime, Mishka." He turned on his heel and he left the room, biting back the remark that had jumped to the tip of his tongue. Summary: Mishka and Gwydion talk. Gwydion states Asenka is now back and takes Mishka to the house. Category:Text Roleplay